Arks Hoard Of Snips and Snaps
by Arkdrakos
Summary: A collection of ideas that are floating around my head ranging from original pieces of work to one-shots based on different fanfic universes. Basically a way for me to safely practice writing before I actually attempt to write a fully fleshed fanfic. If inspiration strikes and any of these are continued beyond one shot status then they will be moved on to a separate place.


**Chapter 1: Prologue**

**Location: London, near Orme square**

**Time: 4 am**

It was lightly raining by the time he reached Orme square. The drizzle, more akin to mist than true rain, fell around in soft sheets. Normally such a thing wouldn't have bothered him, London had its fair share of rainfall in these months but at 4 am in the night, the cold spray soaked through his clothing and chilled his unclad hands.

And yet, there was something to gain from this predicament. No sane Londoner would be out of the comfort of their homes at this time and especially in such weather.

''_Well, no one but me''_

Sliding his cold hand into his pocket, he withdrew a sleek gray device. At first glance, it would have looked like any other smart-phone, only his organization knew the true value of these.

He turned it on by pushing the small hidden button on the side, the screen lit up as a map of the surrounding area appeared on screen. Ignoring the rain falling on the screen he swiped at it, zooming in on to his current location.

The streets were blank, no blue blinking dots on them other than one showing his own location. Good, that meant they were devoid of any human presence, so he tapped a small icon on the screen, changing the map settings.

The screen changed displaying the streets in blue highlights now. The view remained mostly unchanged save the appearance of a small innocently blinking red dot a few miles down from his location.

''_it stopped moving''_

He mused to himself as he wiped the screen free of water and placed the device back into his pocket and started walking through the rain again.

He took the back lanes this time, traveling quickly and silently, sticking close to walls to avoid the worst of the rain. Not that it did any good, his hands were starting to get a bit numb now, and he really regretted not taking any gloves with him.

It was almost a 20 minute walk before he reached his target. A small narrow lane crammed between a pair of closed stores. The alleyway itself was connected to Hyde Park, with a simple metal fence separating the two.

Most people wouldn't have given it a second glance but he knew better, there was something here.

He could already feel it, a sensation of deep primal fear, like icy spiders skittering down his spine. The feeling when one knew there was watching from the shadows, waiting and stalking.

He took a quick breath to steady himself. The cold air chilled him down to the core but it had the desired effect of fortifying him.

With his right hand he drew out a small hilt from his belt. A quick hand movement flicked it open, revealing his favored Espada knife. The military grade blade gleamed in the rain, as he cautiously neared the mouth of the darkened alleyway.

He moved silently and pressing himself against the edge of the wall. Peering around the corner to check for movement, He had to blink few droplets of rain out of his as he let his eyes adjust to the darkness.

There was no immediate threat and the rain almost made him miss the unmoving figure slumped against the metal fence at the far end of the alley.

He froze as he caught sight of it and after a moment's indecision, slowly edged forward to investigate it.

It was a corpse, half mauled and left abandoned in the rain.

There was nothing else there, but he still looked around, just in case. He had been through enough encounters to know most chose to hide in plain sight.

And yet the alley remained empty, no matter how he examined it.

Relaxing himself, he sighed as he finally reached the corpse, another victim, a teenager this time. Crouching on the wet pavement, by the body he examined it.

It was a boy, his chest torn apart and blood having pooled all around him, mixing in with the rainwater on the ground. Grimacing he took in the kids face, frozen in a rictus of pain and terror.

"_Poor bastard" _

His death had not been a painless one.

He glanced around for any sort of clue that might indicate where the murderer had gone. No such luck, despite previously given feelings the alley was well and truly empty. Not even the slightest signs of any other presence besides him and the corpse.

The killer had probably escaped over the fence and in to Hyde Park. It would be significantly more dangerous to track it there, especially at night and in such weather.

Even though he knew it was a futile effort, he gently held the right hand to feel for a pulse. No such luck, the teen was well and truly dead.

By sheer luck just as he made to pull his hand back, a droplet of rain fell on it. Even if his eyes wouldn't have registered the fact that the drop was red, his mind grasped the fact that it was **WarmWarmWarm.**

He whirled around, face skywards just in time to catch a glimpse of black fur and blood stained teeth before it was upon him.

The beast fell from above from where it had been clinging to the wall of one of the buildings. Its jaws locking around an arm and it shook its head savagely trying to inflicting as much damage as it could. A series of loud cracks rent the silence as bone bent and broke in multiple places.

It would have kept at it, too blinded by its bloodlust, but a sharp stabbing pain erupted in its chest, interrupting it. It yelped, dropping the mangled arm that it had clamped its jaws around; the demon scrambled back a few steps, almost tripping on the body.

He rolled away from it, trying to put some distance between him and the creature. Pushing the dead body's arm in to the oncoming jaws at the last second had given him a sufficient distraction. The beast had been too busy mauling it to notice the fact that it hadn't actually gotten him and he had capitalized on it.

Now, it had a blade stuck in its chest all the way up to the hilt.

This time he got full view of his attacker. A large creature that from a distance would have been mistaken for particularly large black dog and yet up close he could clearly see what set it apart from any worldly being.

A large snout filled with cleaving teeth, far too large to belong to any earth borne predator. It had mismatched legs, the frontal ones longer than the back legs giving it a somewhat hunched posture and a long sinuous tail more likely to be attached to a large reptile than any canine.

The fiend snarled at him, its lower jaw split in half like the mandible of snake and its tongue writhed like some type of demented worm.

Its front arm were held at an awkward angle as the blade stuck in it jarred with each step it took, the wound weeping black inky fluid.

He was really regretted not bringing a firearm with him nonetheless he withdrew another hilt from his belt. With a another sharp wrist movement and a muted "click" it snapped open to reveal an almost identical Espada blade, the second one of the pair.

"Aren't you one ugly bugger."

The creature's ruby red eyes narrowed and its tail swiped agitatedly behind it. No doubt it'd heard him and would have rushed him given any other situation. But the blade stuck in its chest told it that he wasn't ordinary human.

"_Good, about time someone showed these rat bastards that we aint on the menu."_

"Well fucking come one then" He suddenly roared at it. His voice rang out like a peel of thunder through the silent alley.

The beast roared back at him in response, deep set eyes glittering with fury.

It leapt, aiming to tear out his throat with its jaws.

Rather than dodge, he rushed straight towards the hurtling demon, sliding under the surprised beast in a perfect baseball slide, knees scraping against the cold, damp cobblestone.

In one swift motion he wrenched the first knife from its chest as it jumped over him. The weapon came free with a burst of dark ichor and flesh.

The monster screeched as the blade was pulled free; it tried to land on its feet but collapsed as its front leg gave out. It made to turn, as much as it could in its injured state, trying to snap at him but it wasn't fast enough.

Before it could fully turn, he lunged forward and slammed a blade straight through the demons neck. It choked and gurgled, still desperately trying to snap at him even as it injured itself in the process. A second blade, straight through the top of its skull put an end to the struggle.

Staggering back from the twitching carcass and took moment to center himself, his own heavy breathing ringing in his head.

It took a few minutes for the adrenaline to fade even as he watched the dead demon, the body already rotting as if it had been decaying for a week, in the next minute or so there was nothing left other than pile of powdered bones. Soon that too was mixed with the rain water, the only evidence left behind were his Espada blades.

He picked them up and inspected them as closely as he could in the dull alley. Once satisfied that they weren't damaged, he flicked them close, before placing them back on his belt.

A glance towards the teen's body revealed that it had been upturned in his brief fight. The right arm mangled beyond recognition when the demon had sunk its teeth in it.

Quickly taking out his device, he typed out a message.

**Walker # 245: Threat near Orme Square neutralized. **

**Threat level: 3 **

**Target designation: Grim.**

**No witnesses, one body.**

A moment later, there was a ping as he received a reply.

**Walker # 28: Acknowledged. Dispose of the body and proceed as you see fit. We will have our contacts in the police force keep an eye out for any investigations on missing persons in the area.**

Grunting, he pushed away from the wall he was leaning on and walked towards the body. Gently beside he raised a hand and started to chant in a low voice.

''_**Dumque Flammis Urar'' **_

Light filled the alley as his hand erupted in to pale ghostly flames that flickered mournfully in the rain, like the dying spirit of an unloved child.

Yet they held on to his hand nonetheless, kept in to being by his will.

He reached out and gently passed his hand over the dead teens face covering it in the same flames that encapsulated his hands.

The flames spread quickly, eating through flesh, cloth and bone, with terrifying swiftness. Yet there was no stench of burning flesh nor any ash left behind. Just the occasional blue mote that drifted off from the body to fizzled out in to the rain.

In a minute where there had once been a corpse, there was nothing left behind not even the pooling blood had remained.

''May your spirit be free'' he murmured gently as he rose to his feet and started towards alleys entrance, as the rain continued to pitter on.

By the time, he exited it there was no sign of the events that took place, just the soft sound of falling rain to fill the nights silence.


End file.
